Students at San Diego Miramar College’s Fire Technology program. The SDCCD is San Diego’s leading institution for job training – including for first responders, nurses, emergency medical technicians, and increasingly, for careers in biotechnology, cyber defense, and sustainability fields.
$3.5-billion construction bond approved for November ballot
July 12, 2024 |
The San Diego Community College District’s Board of Trustees has unanimously agreed to place a $3.5-billion bond measure on the November ballot to fund critical construction and modernization projects that will ensure the region’s largest provider of workforce training and higher education continues to be a leader in driving the San Diego economy.
The Board of Trustees approved the move at its July 11 meeting.
“Each year, our colleges and district contribute $4.5 billion to the regional economy,” said SDCCD Chancellor Gregory Smith. “As the largest regional workforce training provider, City College, Mesa College, Miramar College, and the College of Continuing Education are essential to San Diego’s small and midsize businesses and to attracting new high-growth industries to our region. This fall, we will ask voters to join us in safeguarding the future health and vitality of our region by investing in an infrastructure bond.”
Bond spending would be overseen by an independent Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee, mandatory audits would be conducted annually and no funds would be spent on administrator salaries or employee pensions.
“Our local community colleges are the leading provider of job training in the region, including firefighters, nurses and other healthcare workers, and we are preparing students for high-paying careers in high job-growth areas such as biotechnology, cyber defense and green technologies,” said SDCCD Board of Trustees President Bernie Rhinerson. “This bond measure is an essential investment that will ensure our colleges can continue to offer state-of-the-art career training facilities with modern classrooms that incorporate new technologies to prepare our students for the workplace of the future.”
A comprehensive, facilities assessment documented the need for newly renovated and modernized classrooms, job training facilities, instructional laboratories, advanced technology centers, and more. In addition, a lack of funding for repairs or replacement of aged or deficient equipment and building systems has created a backlog estimated at $5 billion.
Rhinerson also highlighted that several SDCCD campuses were badly damaged during San Diego’s historic January rainstorm. This resulted in temporary closures, underscoring the need for infrastructure improvements that reflect the new reality of climate change, with catastrophic damaging weather events occurring much more frequently than previously anticipated.
“Simply put, state financing has not provided the district with enough money to adequately maintain, equip and enhance San Diego’s four community colleges that provide affordable education to more than 90,000 students each year,” said Rhinerson.
Examples of projects to be funded by the bond measure include a new San Diego City College student commons that would replace an outdated student center; a new San Diego Mesa College early childhood education center; a renovation and upgrade of the San Diego Miramar College Aviation and Aeronautical Sciences program facilities that would allow for expansion of job training for careers in the aviation industry; and the renovation and modernization of San Diego College of Continuing Education’s career training areas for welding, HVAC and other building trades at the Educational Cultural Complex in the Southeast San Diego community. The 5,300 district students who are active military personnel, military veterans or military dependents would also benefit from new and expanded campus veterans service centers.
Consistent with its educational mission, the SDCCD will require contractors and vendors to provide student internships and other appropriate participation associated with bond projects.
The measure is the first proposed by the SDCCD since San Diego taxpayers overwhelmingly approved Propositions S and N in 2002 and 2006, respectively, which the bond rating agency Standard & Poor’s in February gave its highest rating possible – AAA – and cited the district’s steady financial profile, balanced operations and financial resources supported by favorable enrollment trends. The district’s stewardship has led to six bond re-funding, or refinancings, that have saved taxpayers a total of $339.1 million.
The new bond would cost property owners just 2.5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, or $125 annually on a home with an assessed value of $500,000. It would yield an estimated $168 million annually.